Grant Of Bakir Tepe Explorati

RNS Number : 8714W

Kefi Minerals plc

17 June 2008

 



AIM: KEFI                                                                                                                                           17 June 2008

KEFI Minerals Plc 

('KEFI Minerals' or the 'Company')

GRANT OF BAKIR TEPE EXPLORATION LICENCES

KEFI Minerals, the AIM-quoted gold and copper exploration company with projects in Turkey, is pleased to announce that it has successfully tendered for and been granted seven new Exploration Licences covering a total area of 78 km2 in southwestern Turkey ('the Bakir Tepe Licences').

The Bakir Tepe Licences were identified from the Company's proprietary database as being prospective for Cyprus-type volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) style of mineralisation. Initial grab and channel samples have returned values of up to 3.6% copper, 4.6g/t gold, 67g/t silver and 1,070 g/t zinc. 

KEFI Minerals plans to undertake geological mapping, geochemical sampling and geophysical surveys in the near future with the aim of defining targets for drilling later in 2008.

The local geology at Bakir Tepe is comprised of mafic volcanics overlain by pillow basalts and sediments. Characteristic hydrothermal alteration products include limonitic 'umber' zones, manganese rich horizons and jasperoidal chert. This alteration sequence is typical of the peripheral alteration 'apron' zones that form around the core of a massive sulphide deposit.

Bakir Tepe is located within the Lycian Ophiolite Complex, which forms part of the Taurides Ophiolite Complex in southern Turkey. A number of well-known VMS deposits are located in eastern Turkey, including:

• the large Siirt deposit (14 million tonnes at 3% copper, 1g/t gold), which is currently being mined; and

• the Ergani-Maden deposits which were mined in ancient times and from 1939 to 1968, producing approximately 6.1 million tonnes of ore containing 6.5% copper. 

KEFI Minerals' Managing Director, Jeff Rayner, commented: 

'Our team recognised Bakir Tepe as having all the ingredients of a classic geological setting for VMS deposits.

'We should be able to quickly define quality drill targets at Bakir Tepe as VMS deposits provide many geological pointers and their conductive nature is amenable to being located by geophysical techniques. 

'The high gold and copper grades in our initial sampling, combined with the alteration sequences already observed, suggest the presence of copper-zinc-gold-silver in a nearby massive sulphide body.'

Enquiries

KEFI Minerals plc	WH Ireland Limited	Bishopsgate Communications
Jeffrey Rayner	Laurie Beevers Katy Mitchell	Maxine Barnes Nick Rome
[phone]	[phone]	[phone]
www.kefi-minerals.com

References in this announcement to exploration results and potential have been approved for release by Mr Malcolm Stallman, B.App.Sc. Mr Stallman is a geologist and has more than 20 years' relevant experience in the field of activity concerned. He is a member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) and has consented to the inclusion of the material in the form and context in which it appears.

Notes to Editors: 

KEFI Minerals was formed on 24 October 2006 for the purposes of holding EMED Mining's exploration interests in Turkey and Bulgaria with a view to creating shareholder value through the discovery and exploitation of gold and copper deposits.

In November 2006, KEFI Minerals completed the acquisition of EMED Mining's Turkish and Bulgarian exploration interests through the acquisition of EMED Mining's subsidiary Mediterranean Minerals (Bulgaria) EOOD. In addition, KEFI Minerals acquired from EMED Mining a database of mining information relating to Turkey.

KEFI Minerals commenced trading on AIM on 18 December 2006, following the successful placing of 46,666,667 shares at 3p to raise £1.4 million. 

In Turkey, KEFI Minerals has eight exploration projects:

• At Derinin Tepe in the Western Anatolia Region, low-sulphidation epithermal quartz veins have been identified with gold and silver mineralisation.

• At Artvin in northeastern Turkey, extensive hydrothermal alteration and gold and base metal mineralisation have been recognised in the project area, as well as historical workings indicating potential for economic mineralisation. 

• At Gumushane in eastern Turkey, areas of extensive hydrothermal alteration have been recognised in the project area, as well as coincident areas of interest identified through interpretation of Aster data.

• Hasancelebi, in central Turkey, is prospective for high-sulphidation epithermal gold mineralisation and Iron-Oxide Copper-Gold ('IOCG') mineralisation.

• At Karalar, in Central Anatolia, highly anomalous gold in stream sediments have been identified in an area of historic base metal mines.

• Muratdag, in the Western Anatolia Region, is prospective for Carlin-style epithermal gold mineralisation. 

• Meyvali, in the Western Anatolia Region, is prospective for epithermal and skarn related mineralisation.

• At Yatik, in the Western Anatolia Region, low-sulphidation epithermal quartz veins with gold and silver mineralisation have been identified.

KEFI Minerals also has an extensive exploration database which contains information about approximately 100 further prospective sites in Turkey. This database provides the Company with a competitive advantage to identify prospective areas for project generation in Turkey. Monitoring of the exploration licence status of geologically prospective areas will be carried out on an ongoing basis so that KEFI Minerals can acquire further exploration opportunities as soon as they become available.

EMED Mining has agreed to provide technical and administrative systems and personnel to KEFI Minerals on a cost-recovery basis, thus enabling KEFI Minerals to reduce overheads and spend more on exploring Turkey and Bulgaria.

KEFI Minerals' Board of Directors is comprised of Mr. Harry Anagnostaras-Adams (Chairman), Mr. Jeffrey Rayner (Managing Director), Professor Ian Plimer (Deputy Chairman) and John Leach (Finance Director).

Further information on KEFI Minerals is available at  and the Company's AIM code is 'KEFI'.

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